Line #1 Main/TwoTone


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2tone_3985.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Walt Jabsco and the 2 Tone logo.]]
3
4	[floatboxright:
5	Primary Stylistic Influences:
6	+ First-Wave {{Ska}}, PunkRock
7	]
8	[floatboxright:
9	Secondary Stylistic Influences:
10	+ {{Reggae}}, Rocksteady, NewWaveMusic, {{Rockabilly}}
11	]
12
13	A SubGenre of {{ska}} that showed up in Britain at the end of TheSeventies. 2 Tone took its name from a newly formed record label based in [[UsefulNotes/TheMidlands Coventry]], recognised by its distinctive checkerboard logo and mod mascot "Walt Jabsco". Since the company gave bands the option to produce one single with no obligations to follow it up, several successful ska groups were able to record a 2 Tone release before moving on to another company if they wished.
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15	Musically, the second wave bands were influenced by {{Reggae}}, PunkRock and the [[{{Soul}} northern soul]] dance scene, all of which were very popular in the British independent scene during the 1970s, as well as first wave ska imported from Jamaica and distributed by the Blue Beat label, resulting in a sound faster and harder-edged than Jamaican ska. Notably, a lot of songs were "interpretations" or [[CoverVersion covers]] of old or obscure ska and reggae tracks by Jamaican artsts.
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17	Many of the songs released by second wave bands were politically and socially conscious. Most of the main groups had multiracial line-ups, with songwriter Jerry Dammers - probably the dominant personality behind the formation of the 2 Tone Records label and the keyboard player for Music/TheSpecials - stating that one of his aims was to use music to oppose racism and preventing the growth of groups like the National Front in the mod[=/=]skinhead revival occurring in the late-1970s. Furthermore, many lyrics were also critical of Conservative PM UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, most famously the Specials number one hit ''GhostTown'', which blamed the government for the unemployment and inner city decay of the early 1980s.
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19	Although some American ska groups such as Music/TheToasters and Music/TheMightyMightyBosstones - who were influenced by the performers in the British scene - also appeared around this time, they're generally not counted as 2 Tone bands. Rather, they are usually categorised as major influences of the American SkaPunk, or Third Wave ska genre; the American ska scene was arguably kicked off by British expatriate Robert Hingley, whose band (the Toasters) were formed when he discovered that there were no major exponents of ska in the states. As a tribute to their British influences, the Toasters subsequently recorded a song called "2 Tone Army" (which saw use as the theme for ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam'' in the 1990s).
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21	!!2 Tone artists include:
22	[[index]]
23	* Music/TheBeat (eventually known as The English Beat outside of Britain because of an identically named American band)
24	* Music/TheBodysnatchers
25	* Music/ElvisCostello, very briefly[[labelnote:Explanation]]Between the time his previous label Creator/{{Radar\|Records}} was largely deactivated by [[Creator/WarnerMusicGroup WEA]] at the end of 1979 and his new label F-Beat was set up, Costello (who had produced The Specials' first album) released the single "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down"/"Girls Talk" on 2 Tone in January 1980. The single was forced off the market due to legal action from WEA, then reissued on F-Beat in February; most 2 Tone pressings were given away at gigs in UsefulNotes/{{London}} and UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity.[[/labelnote]]
26	* Music/{{Graduate}} (mainly known for being [[RetroactiveRecognition an early band]] of [[Music/TearsForFears Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith's]]. Despite being marketed as TwoTone on the basis of their [[OneHitWonder sole hit]] "[[Music/ElvisCostello Elvis]] Should Play Ska", their actual sound is much closer to PowerPop.)
27	* Music/{{Madness\|Band}}
28	* Music/TheSelecter
29	* Music/TheSpecials
30	[[/index]]

Context Main / TwoTone